


and the roses bloomed

by AylaPascal



Category: V for Vendetta (2005)
Genre: Dystopia, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2009-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 01:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AylaPascal/pseuds/AylaPascal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few moments over the years in the lives of Ruth and Valerie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and the roses bloomed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AR](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=AR).



> I saw this prompt on the pinch hit list and I couldn't resist! My apologies for this fic being a little bit on the bitter end of bittersweet.

The Scarlet Carsons flourished. They weren't a delicate rose; they bloomed all summer and a few weeks into autumn. It looked like they would never die.

Ruth loved tending them. The petals were soft under her fingers and the smell of the roses permeated the apartment, wafting in on the warm summer breeze. She loved the look in Valerie's eyes, the sparkle whenever she laid a Scarlet Carson across her pillow before bed, the dreamy expression as she twirled with a rose tucked in her hair. It reminded Ruth of the look on Valerie's face when they were first introduced on set. Valerie was eating chocolate mousse and there was a tiny bit of chocolate on the corner of her mouth.

It was at that moment that Ruth realised she wanted to lick the chocolate away and that it didn't matter if her parents disapproved, it didn't matter if the winds of politics were changing, all that mattered was Valerie and as long as they loved each other, everything would be all right.

-***-

The first day they moved into their apartment was a Tuesday. The apartment wasn't the apartment of their dreams but Ruth could see the dreams in Valerie's eyes. "We'll make it beautiful," Valerie said as she spun around the room, her ringlets flying.

It was because of Valerie that she started growing roses. Ruth had never liked flowers much. They were beautiful, true, but it was a transient beauty. She preferred something lasting, so they invested in paintings of flowers and landscapes for their walls. But she knew that Valerie loved Scarlet Carsons and it was because of Valerie that their apartment always smelled of roses.

Ruth had to immediately return to work but Valerie kissed her and said that she would look after everything. When Ruth returned home that evening, she found fish and chips on the table from the local takeaway and Valerie standing there with a sheepish expression on her face.

Ruth loved her more for the flaws. Neither of them could cook, but she preferred the flowery perfume of roses than the spice of food, permeating their apartment.

-***-

Ruth always knew that she was the more pragmatic of the two. While Valerie stared out the window, dreaming of the rain, Ruth watched the television, her fingers digging into her palms. While Valerie refused to talk to her parents, Ruth sent birthday and Christmas presents to hers every year. And every year, they were sent back, unopened, but she persisted.

When finally, one year, the Christmas presents didn't come back, Ruth picked up the phone and dialled. "Mum?" she said cautiously.

She heard something like a hiccupping sob on the other line. "Oh Ruth," her mother's voice came back, sounding much older and much more tired than four years ago.

"Did you get my present?" Ruth asked cautiously.

"Yes. Thank you dear," her mother said. There was a pause. "Are you still with her?"

Ruth took a deep calming breath. Her mother was from a different time, a different era. She didn't mean it to hurt. But it still did. "Yes, mum. I'm still with Valerie."

"Oh," her mother said. "That's good."

"How's dad?" Ruth ventured. Out of her parents, it was her father who had stared at her like she was a monster. It was her father who had told her to get out and to never come back. And it was because of her father that she had suppressed herself for so many years. Valerie had brought out a part of her that even Ruth hadn't realised existed.

"He's scared. One of his co-workers lost a child at St Mary's last week. He's talking about voting Tory. He says that Sutler fellow knows what he's talking about," her mother said, with a laugh. To Ruth, the laugh sounded twisted. "Can you imagine? Your father, a lifelong Labour voter, going conservative?"

Ruth didn't say anything.

-***-

On their fourth anniversary, Valerie baked them a cake. They couldn't afford chocolate because neither of them had managed to get an acting job in months, not even doing advertisements. The recruitment companies were polite but adamant that they didn't need any more actors, that there weren't any roles _suitable_ for either of them.

Still, the cake looked nice. It was plain vanilla and although it may have been a little dry, but Ruth didn't say anything as she ate it. There was nothing else for dinner so the cake was quickly demolished. "That was delicious," Ruth said with a smile as she laid down her fork.

Valerie sighed. "Do you remember what we had on our first anniversary? Oysters, roast duck and potatoes?"

Ruth reached over and placed a comforting hand on Valerie's arm. "This is nicer," she said. "Because you made it."

Valerie smiled.

-***-

Ruth can remember clearly the first time she had heard of Norsefire. Adam Sutler was already a household name but there was talk of creating a new party, a third party. A third option, they called it. Valerie was frightened at the implications, frightened at the banners and at the rhetoric that Adam Sutler spat out.

"What's happening to the world?" Valerie asked the first time they heard of the disappearances. "Why are they doing this to us?"

Ruth didn't answer; she couldn't answer. She simply leaned over and wrapped her arms tightly around Valerie. "I love you," she whispered. "Nothing's ever going to change that." Valerie rested her head, her hair tickling Ruth's nose.

On the television, the news presenter was saying, "England prevails!" with a ferocity that sent shivers down Ruth's back.

-***-

When Ruth saw the men jumping out of unmarked black vans, she was surprised at how resigned she felt. It felt like she had been working towards this moment for years. Ever since America's war had arrived at their doorstep, ever since terrorists had destroyed Milton Keynes, ever since St Mary's, ever since Adam Sutler, everything before this point in her life had led up to this very moment.

The black bag was drawn over her head and Ruth gasped. Her groceries were scattered on the road and she was bundled into the van. As the van drove away, her only thought was for Valerie.

Ruth crossed her fingers tightly and hoped against hope that Valerie was going to survive this.

-***-

They came for Valerie five days later. The soldiers were surprised at the lack of resistance as they dragged her sobbing from the apartment.

A few weeks after, their landlord rented their apartment to a nice couple with two children. The younger child loved the Scarlet Carsons and watered them every day, but despite the care, the roses slowly withered away and died.

_-finis_


End file.
